Wheelchair fencer Gu Haiyan and powerlifter Qi Yongkai have been named as China's co-flagbearers for the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics, the Chinese delegation announced on Monday.

Gu, 24, won two gold medals in the women's individual foil A and team foil A-B events at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. Last year, she claimed five golds and one silver at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.

Gu will participate in five events – individual foil, epee and sabre, and team foil and epee – in Paris.

"I had never thought that I could appear on the world's top stage on behalf of my country," Gu told China Media Group (CMG). "I feel honored."

Qi, 25, was the men's 59-kilogram division gold medalist at the Tokyo Paralympics. And at last year's Asian Para Games, he set a new continental event record by pushing up 194 kilograms in the final.

"I'm so glad to be a flagbearer for China at the Paris Paralympics," Qi told CMG.

The 2024 Paris Summer Paralympics will begin on August 28 and end on September 9. Around 4,400 athletes from 160 nations and regions will compete in 549 events across 22 sports. A total of 284 Chinese athletes will participate in 302 events encompassing 19 sports.